Why Bother?

Do you ever just feel like you absolutely don't want to do anything? Anything at all? I have those days quite often. It's not a lazy sort of feeling. It's a "why bother" sort of feeling. Why bother disciplining my children when it's a daily thing and if they haven't learned the rules by now......why bother??? Why should I do my dishes when they are just going to pile up again? It is so much easier using paper plates. Then I don't have to listen to my kids argue over who's turn it is to do the dishes. So why bother? Why should I wash the clothes and towels when they are just going to end up on the floor anyways because nobody knows how to put them away properly. Why bother? Why put the roll of toilet paper on the roll because it always ends up falling in the toilet, getting wet, and sitting on the edge of the counter. But NOBODY EVER knows who did it and how it got there. Why bother? Why bother having garbage cans in every room of the house when nobody knows how to use them? I swear, I pick up enough used tissues and torn paper and Popsicle wrappers to fill a dumpster on a daily basis. Why bother? Do you get the feeling that I am feeling a bit frustrated right now? I know I wasn't a perfect child by any means, and I made my share of messes and had my lazy moments. But I also know that when I was disciplined by my parents about doing something wrong, it made me feel bad. And I learned from it. My children can't seem to grasp that concept. What am I doing wrong? I go over the same teachings every single solitary day about how to pick up after themselves. How to put the laundry away. How to actually take the initiative to help out around the house. Because we ALL live here and we are ALL responsible for taking care of it. But I swear they tune me out when I am talking to them about it. You can see their eyes glaze over and zone out. And then when I ask them about something, they can never remember me talking to them about it. Am I the only one that has this problem with their kids??? Please tell me I'm not. Please, oh please tell me I'm not. I just don't know how to get them to appreciate and care and most importantly, to have respect for ME and what I have to say to them. I can't understand where I went wrong in my teachings. I just get to the point that I lock myself in my room because I don't know what to do. Why bother?

Bridal Shower

We have a wedding coming up in our family. My sister, Michelle's, oldest kid (yes, Eric, you are still a kid) is getting married in September. We haven't had a wedding in our family since 1993. That is when Flyboy and I got married. And Eric was our ring bearer. Now, 15 years later, he is getting married. His bride to be, Jenn, is a very nice girl. They were sweethearts in Jr. High and reconnected as adults. You can read all about their adventures and wedding plans here. 2 weeks ago, she had her bridal shower. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the festivites.

The girls and I took the liberty to get Jenn some skivvies. Here she is demonstrating someone grabbing her thong. Tee hee.

One of the activities was to creat toilet paper wedding dresses. We split up into 3 teams. Emily was the model for our team. Here is my sister, Michelle, starting to design the dress.

It really was a group effort. We only had 5 minutes to design a gorgeous dress. Have you ever made a dress out of toilet paper? That tears easily? In the wind?

Here is team Emily. Notice Sandee peeking between Emily and Michelle.

Michelle doing the final touches on the veil.

Here are the final results. Aren't they all beautiful. And very creative. The girl on the end, with the big bow in her hair (sorry, I don't remember her name), won. Jenn really loved that bow. I wonder if she'll show up on her wedding day with a big bow in her hair. Very 80's!

Me and my girls with my handsome great nephew, Carter. He is Eric and Jenn's son.

And I can't leave this post without posting a picture of my handsome nephew, and husband-to-be, Eric and his son, Carter. Aren't they a handsome pair?

4 Weeks Old!!!

Roaring Good Time

So the whole fam damily went to Roaring Springs water park last weekend. Flyboy is usually working when the girls and I go, so this was a treat for them.

Flyboy and the girls raced down this slide

In order....Flyboy (in the lead), TDQ, Suger Booger, Punkie Poo

This is Flyboy and This is his competition

TDQ and Suger Booger

After the race

Next came this race. Sugie Boogie won this heat on her back with Punkie Poo a close second sitting up.

Discussing the race and arguing about who came in first.

Here's Flyboy and TDQ. Seems that "on your back" is the method to beat.

Flyboy won and was flipped upside down as his victory reward

A little friendly competition is good for everyone

Next came these.

Flyboy and Sugie Boogie

Getting out of the rafts isn't an easy task

This is our favorite ride. I think it's called the Vortex, but we call it the Toilet. You slide down a tube and then shoot into the bowl and get swirled around

And around until.....

You get flushed down into another tube. It's great fun to be flushed.

Levi

CONGRATULATIONS MATTHEW AND CAMILLA!

Belly Buster

O.K. So the other day on Country Girl, she talked about having a 17 year old boy living inside her. One who laughs at bodily fluids, farts, and toilets. Well, I have that same 17 year old boy living inside of me. Yes, it's true. Crude humor totally cracks me up. At my house, farts are funny. Well, I also crack up at the more severe crude humor. If ya know what I mean. Stuff that is R (and yes, sometimes X) rated. Well, the subject of "camel toes" comes up once in a while and NO, I will not explain what they are. I'm sure that each one of you reading this, knows exactly what I am talking about. Anyhoo, about a year ago, I was informed that the male form of "camel toes" is called a "moose knuckle". This totally cracked me up. I loved it!!! Well, the subject came up recently and I mentioned to some male friends about how men had "moose knuckles" and not "camel toes". They totally went off the wall about how stupid that was and where did I hear that and so on a so forth. I felt like a complete doofus because of it. So what did I do? I did what I do each and every time I need to search for information. I Google'd it. And this is what I found. I seriously laughed for about 30 minutes after finding this. I mean, crying, mascara running down my face, belly busting, muscles hurting laughing. I absolutely can not believe that they actually wrote an article on this subject. And it's obvious that this man didn't read the article.

Tagged and Tagged Again!

I have been tagged twice! So please bear with me people.

First Tag from Alicia.

4 Jobs I've Had
1. Dental Assistant
2. Micron - Security Receptionist
3. American Red Cross - Lab Tech
4. WinCo Foods

4 Movies I've Watched More Than Once
1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Never Been Kissed
3. While You Were Sleeping
4. The Notebook

4 Places I have lived
1. Moreland, Idaho
2. Boise, Idaho
3. Meridian, Idaho
4. Nampa, Idaho

4 Places I have Visited
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Cozumel, Mexico
3. Belize City, Belize
4. Roatan Bay Islands, Honduras

4 Favorite Foods
1. Fried Chicken
2. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
3. Fresh baked bread
4. Any kind of junkfood available

4 Places I Want To Visit
1. Mediterranean
2. Scotland
3. Ireland
4. The Cook Islands

4 Things I Look Forward To
1. Possibly being able to quit my job (fingers crossed)
2. More time with my kids (see #1)
3. Less stress (see #1)
4. More time with family and friends (see #1)

4 Friends I'm Tagging
1. How about everyone that reads my blog. Consider yourself tagged!!!!

Second Tag is from Michelle.

6 Quirks Of Mine

1. Um, I hope not to offend anyone, but I have a right to my opinion. ILLEGALS that are living the American Dream!!!!!!! They get free food, subsidized housing, free medical, education, etc. etc. And I'm busting my ass to provide it for them!!
2. I like to have my own space. It drives me crazy when I am on the computer and my kids hang over my shoulders reading or watching what I am doing. I know they are interested, but I prefer my privacy. Even if I'm just playing a game. Just let me be.
3. Idiots at work that don't take the time to do things right the first time, which creates more work for me because I can't NOT do it right. And if it's wrong, I will take the time to fix it. It amazes me every day how many people DO NOT have good work ethics. And my job is entry level. It's common sense stuff people!!!
4. People not turning off lights that aren't being used around the house. I am constantly going around my house turning off lights. To me, it's $$$$ going down the drain and it's wasting energy. Maybe Idaho Power would quit increasing the price if people would be more energy efficient. However, after 8, 9 and 13 years of trying to beat it into my children's heads, they STILL do not turn off the lights when they are done using them.
5. Dog hair!!!! I have 2 German Shephards, 2 cats and 9 puppies. AND I ABSOLUTELY HATE THE DOG HAIR. I don't like the cat hair either, but it's really only where they sleep, which is the girls pillows. But, the dog hair is everywhere. On every surface of my house. I sweep every day and get piles of dog hair. With Bandit having cancer, Don and the girls would like to keep one of the puppies. But I haven't agreed yet. I don't believe in having a dog and keeping it outside. That's just cruel. Animals should be a "complete" part of the family. Therefore, my house is covered in dog hair. While I am sad that Bandit won't be with us much longer, and I would take away his cancer if I could, I am actually a bit thrilled at the thought of a little less dog hair to put up with. Is that being insensitive? I love the puppies, but I know if we keep one, the dog hair with never be gone.
6. I hate having food in my teeth. I carry toothpicks (the plastic kind so I can reuse - don't gag, it's my mouth) and a hand mirror with me at all times because of this. I have a mirror in my purse and I even have one in my apron pocket at work. I think it's partly because I used to be a dental assistant so I focus on peoples mouths. And it just grosses me out when people have dirty teeth. I mean, seriously, your mouth should be kissable at all times. Plus, it's just gross in general. Being a cashier, I work with the public and I am under the watchful eyes of my customers all day. And yes, they stare and watch every move you make. Therefore, I clean my teeth every chance I get (in private). Plus I brush and floss every day. My dentist loves me because my gums are so pink (light pink) and firm. That is a sure sign that you take good care of your mouth!!

Kuna Cave

20 years ago, when I first met Flyboy, he introduced me to Kuna Cave. It is an underground lava tube that goes for about a half mile. Most of it is pretty easy to get through, but there are areas where you have to crawl on your hands and knees and some where you have to belly crawl to get through. It has been a favorite teenage party spot for years. It is about a 30 foot drop to the bottom. There is a ladder with a cage around it, but 20 years ago, there was no cage. And it's a steep ladder. Which made for a scary trip down. It's a fun cave to explore, but don't go without your own flashlight. Years ago, Flyboy and I took his brother, who had never been. We had one flashlight. We got to the part where you have to start belly crawling and that was the end of the line for me. Flyboy wanted to take his brother further to a place called "fat man's hole" (because you have to literally squeeze through it) and I said, fine, but take me back to the truck and you guys can come back in. It really doesn't take that long to get through the cave. Anyhoo, Flyboy insisted that it was only 5 minutes away and they would be right back. I begged and pleaded but I eventually lost. So, they left me in the dark, by myself, WITHOUT A FLASHLIGHT!!! If you've ever been in an underground cave in the dark, then you know that there is absolutely NO LIGHT WHATSOEVER! It is the blackest black you can imagine. And with an imagination like mine (remember the pitchfork incident?), then your mind goes crazy with all sorts of scary possibilities. So there I sat, in the dark, by myself waiting for the boys to return. I was so scared, I was afraid to breath. Because I knew that if I moved, whatever was inches from my face would get me. Well, typical of Flyboy, 5 minutes turned into about 45 minutes. Yes, my future husband left me to fend for myself in the dark for nearly an hour!!!! And yes, 20 years later, I am still pissed off about it!!!!! But, it didn't deter me from ever going back in there. I just make sure that I have my own flashlight. I won't go in without one. We took the girls to the cave last weekend and they loved it. Notice that everyone has their own flashlight. I even said that I would go back to fat man's hole, which is further than I've ever been. We got to where you have to belly crawl and that is where I stopped (which is the farthest I've gone). I wore shorts and the lava rocks really hurt. The kids went exploring a little further. They are afraid of nothing! Troopers they are! They get that from Flyboy. They are all adventurers. They love exploring the unknown. I love exploring too, but I like knowing where I'm going first. Here are some pictures of our adventure. The further we got into the cave, the smaller the lava tube and my camera wouldn't take any more pictures. So, these are all pictures of the entrance and the beginning of the lava tube. Flyboy even found a snake when we first got in there. And then Jessica found one coming back out. I tell ya, they are afraid of nothing!!!!! If you ever go, wear long pants and take a jacket or sweatshirt. It's pretty cold down in there.

This is what you see when you drive up to the cave. Just a hole in the ground with a ladder. See the cage on the ladder? That wasn't there 20 years ago.

Sugie Boogie taking the plunge

Flyboy finds a snake every time we go somewhere exploring. I think they're drawn to him. Or him to them.

My girls are afraid of nothing. They all held their first snake as babies.

Jessica begged me to bring it home for a pet. I've done that twice. Both got out of the cage. We never found the first one. I found the 2nd one in my laundry pile and swore I would never have a snake in my house again. Sorry, Jessica!

Heading into the cave. Notice, we each have our own flashlight. I learned my lesson!

I love the smell down there. It's crisp and cool and earthy.

Emily kept worrying that we were going to get lost. Lost as in separated from her.

This is the first spot where you have to crawl on your knees. Can you see me behind Emily? Sarabeth is actually between us, but you can't see her.

This is the view coming back out. It's pretty big and open in here. Lots of graffiti. Remember, it's a popular teenage party spot.

View of the ladder with Emily at the top.

This is the snake that Jessica and Emily spotted coming back out. It was down in the cave. She begged to have it for a pet. Then she wanted to at least bring it home and put in by the creek that runs behind our house. I'm sorry, but the answer was still NO!

My Celebrity Look A Likes

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family history - Free family tree

You Know You Want One

The puppies are now almost 3 weeks old. The are beginning to wreak havoc all over the place. They have discovered their legs and are motivating everywhere. They are also getting playful and are really fun to watch. We are down to 9. The runt actually died when she was 4 days old. She wasn't born healthy and didn't make it. She is buried in the front yard. But the rest of them are thriving and are so cute and adorable.

One Little Two Little

One little

Two little

Three little puppies

Four little

Five little

Six little puppies

Seven little

Eight little

Nine little puppies

Ten little puppies.....

WERE BORN ON THE 28TH!!!!!